A father-of-two who was stabbed up to 20 times in a frenzied city centre attack says he owes his life to a coat and the selfless actions of a quick thinking bouncer.

City centre bouncer Paul Smith intervened when a man was being stabbed in Caroline Street, Cardiff

A dad-of-two who was stabbed up to 20 times in a frenzied city centre attack says he owes his life to a coat and the selfless actions of a quick thinking bouncer.

Stephen Edwards suffered a three-inch deep gash to the leg after the unprovoked attack in Cardiff last December.

The 38-year-old escaped with his life despite also having a stanley knife slashed across his chest, stomach, throat and neck.

Lyn Edwards of Dan y Bryn Avenue, Radyr, Cardiff, was yesterday jailed for a minimum of five years after admitting two counts of unlawful wounding at Cardiff Crown Court.

The charges related to two separate incidents in the city centre on December 3 which also left another man with a puncture wound in his chest.

During yesterday’s sentencing prosecutor Laurence Jones produced the “puffa” style jacket which potentially saved second victim Stephen Edwards’ life during the frenzied attack.

The black coat, with clearly visible slash marks across the chest, back and even collar was worn by Stephen as he was eating a takeaway on Cardiff’s Caroline Street at around 11pm on the night of the attack.

The victim from Bristol had earlier attended a Bryan Adams concert at the city’s Motorpoint Arena.

Stephen said: “The only thought that occasionally goes through my head now is ‘what could have happened?’

“Initially just after the attack I could feel a stinging pain in my stomach, when I looked at my coat I was horrified, I was dreading lifting the coat to see the damage underneath.

“Amazingly though there was nothing to see but a single, tiny puncture mark.

“Of course I then started feeling the pain in my leg where he had hurt me but it could have been 1,000 times worse.

“It could have been over for me.”

Stephen, his wife Lisa and two friends had enjoyed a day of Christmas shopping before attending the Bryan Adams concert.

They had stopped off at Cardiff’s infamous “chippy lane” for some food on the way to the city’s bars.

Lisa said: “We were just eating a bit of food on the pavement when this guy came along and said something to our friends.

“He then moved on to us.

“Stephen told him to jog-on, he didn’t say it aggressively, he just told him we were trying to eat some food.

“The next thing I knew they were rolling around on the floor and Stephen was being slashed to pieces.

“It was terrifying.”

Mr Jones told the court how Edwards had struck Stephen with what initially looked like a flurry of “fast, repetitive rabbit punches.”

He added it was only when a doorman apprehended the defendant that it was revealed he had in fact been stabbing his victim him with a grey stanley knife.

Stephen suffered a 7cm wound to his leg during the attack but Mr Jones said his coat had “prevented far more serious injury.”

The court heard how only hours earlier Edwards also unlawfully wounded a second man, University of Glamorgan student Louay Benaabdelaali(corr) at Cathays railway station using the same stanley knife.

The first attack, an attempted robbery of the student, who was stabbed in the chest, had been at 8pm on December 3.

A second defendant – John-Paul Berry, of Taff Terrace, Radyr, pleaded guilty to his part in the first robbery.

Edwards alone was responsible for the later attack on December 3, although Berry admitted previously assaulting a 16-year-old schoolboy on the Taff Trail and stealing his bicycle.

Berry was sentenced to 18 months behind bars for his part in both incidents.

Judge Patrick Curran QC revealed Edwards had appeared in court on 33 previous occasions in relation to 76 offences.

He said the defendant had previous convictions for carrying offensive weapons and has been in court before for assault.

The judge said: “Only the thickness of the material seen prevented many more serious injuries.”

He added: “A man could have died.”

After the hearing the judge also made a formal commendation to doorman Paul Smith.

He said Smith should be “commended for his courage and resourcefulness.

He added: “He disarmed a dangerous man, detaining him until the police arrived, and in doing so showed little regard for his own safety.”

Stephen also praised Mr Smith.

He said: “If it wasn’t for his quick actions it could have been a lot worse.”

“I’m very grateful for his reaction, there were a lot of people around who stopped to see what was happening, but he’s the only one who reacted, he didn’t think twice.”

Mr Smith said: “It’s great to get recognition, especially as bouncers often have an undeserved reputation as being bullies.

“I didn’t know he was carrying a knife when I grabbed him, but I wouldn’t have acted any differently if I had known.

“It was pure instinct on my behalf.”

The 50-year-old added: “I’ve been doing this job for 20 odd years and that’s the worst incident I have experienced.

“I’m just glad the guy was not hurt any worse than he could have been.”

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.